1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to fishing techniques for transporting a fishing line down to considerable depths in a body of water.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In many fishing areas the fish are at great depths such as over 100 feet, making the presentation of the hooked lure to the fish at that depth difficult. Commercial trollers use heavy weight lines (commonly called downriggers), generally of wire with several pounds of lead attached to the end thereof. Baited hooks either with artificial or natural lures are attached to one or more fishing lines and are releasably clipped at one or more depths along the length of the weight line. The weight line is then lowered to the desired fishing depth carrying the lighter weight fishing line and lures with it.
Sports fishermen generally use a weight line similar to the commercial trollers but with less weight and perhaps generally with only a single fishing line attached to each weight line depending upon the sports fishing regulations in that fishing area.
With both commercial and sports fishing the raising and lowering of the weight line each time a fish releases the fishing line from the weight line or a fisherman releases the fishing line to check the condition of the lure is a nuisance and time consuming. If multiple lines are connected to the weight line in the case of a commercial troller, the troller must decide whether to fish with fewer lines until he chooses to raise the weight line or must raise the weight line with its unhooked fishing lines and perhaps lose a catch opportunity in order to reconnect the previously released fishing line.
One attempt to overcome the problem of raising the weight line each time to connect the previously released fishing line is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,738,047. In this patent a releasable carrier is threaded onto the previously lowered weight line and is provided with a hydrodynamic responsive surface which, due to the trolling or forward movement of the weight line through the water, forces the carrier slidably down the weight line. The difficulty with the apparatus illustrated in this patent and the concept described therein, however, is that the carrier is moved down the weight line but cannot be returned to the surface without raising the weight line. Thus, after one fish is caught, a second carrier is threaded onto the weight line and so on until several carriers may be laying at the bottom of the weight line. Furthermore, the fishing line is released not only by a fish hooking itself on the lure, but is also manually released frequently to check the condition of the lure and clear the lure of seaweed or other debris. Thus, in a single hour of fishing, the fishing line may be released many times and each time a new carrier is added to the weight line to reposition the fishing line at a desired depth. Each time a carrier with its hydrodynamic responsive surface is placed at the lower end of the weight line additional drag is imposed on the line changing its depth and imposing undesirable stresses on the weight line and the winch which holds the weight line. Each of these carriers itself can gather debris or seaweed further increasing the drag. Consequently, the unidirectional carriers shown in this patent have generally not been widely used.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,839,813 discloses a second type of diving plane for carrying a fishing line down a weight line. This diving plane is releasably attached to the weight line so that when a fish is caught or the fishing line is releasably detached from the weight line, the diving plane remains with the fishing line and is pulled into the boat. This technique solves the difficulty of having multiple plane surfaces on the weight line but provides the undesirable disadvantage of a bulky diving plane mechanism remaining with the fishing line. The bulky diving plane mechanism detracts from the enjoyment of playing and landing the fish and can become fouled in the fishing net or objects projecting from the boat hull, such as the propeller and rudder allowing the fish to get free.